[hr][center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjgwLjgwYTlkMS5RVzVrY21WaElGQmhjM1JsY201aFkycywuMAAA/ruthie.regular.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/92QeUcz.png[/img]
[sub]by [@Surtr] & [@Spoopy Scary][/sub][/center]
[b][code]Courtbridge, Prince Ed-Field_[/code][/b][hr][hr]


RAVEN had to move at the speed of light to get there in time, but, unfortunately, it was far too late to get there before anyone was injured.

That was the price of being a RAVEN, Francis knew. There would be times when RAVEN would just be too late. For now, Francis hoped that the damages weren't as extensive. But, there wasn't much for him to do but wait in the back of this RAVEN truck. With his shotgun in his hands, in between his legs, all he had to pass the time was his thoughts. Andrea sat at his side, but Francis couldn't make small talk. Not that he wanted to, to be honest. Francis just shook his head.

The vehicle came to a sudden stop, and the small Haitian man hopped up with one hand on his shotgun as he ran to the door. He was the first to open up, and hop out. He was followed by the rest of the RAVENS, whom rushed inside with lightning speed. Francis hung back for a moment with Andrea, who was fussing over the fit of the precautionary ballistic vest. To her, it was unexpectedly heavy, and kept pulling on the fabric of her white blouse. Every time she thought she straightened everything out, she found herself with yet another wedgie. Her mere appearance at the scene, however, was out of place as she was still wearing her work clothes - a black pencil skirt and cuban shoes.

"Make sure that everybody gets clear," Francis ordered, "And let me know if any of em get outside.'"

He pumped his shotgun, and then said, "Don't worry, orders are to detain, not kill."

"I didn't think so. HQ seemed pretty concerned with, um, preserving their humaity." Andrea said absentmindedly. "Who knows? I couldn't read any of the first one's thoughts. It didn't seem like he much cognition left."

"HQ will do everything they can to fix this," Francis said. "These people got families, and all."

"Just try to stay safe in there, Francis."

"Don't worry about me," Francis said, before he activated the Psychic Shell as he called it - just for a brief moment, he was surrounded from head to toe in seemingly a lilac colored "hard-light" armor. Before it faded away, and he smiled, "I got one hell of a shield!"

Francis ran inside with haste, thinking he couldn't miss this for anything. Andrea, who was left behind to help with the evacuees, rolled her eyes in response to the RAVEN agent's bravado. She had a feeling that armor of his was making him overconfident when she felt there was no need to be taking any unecessary risks. Her eyes darted around the parking lot, tagging every apparition she saw as it were. She pointed at Francis, and they trailed after him forming a line between herself and him. The longer the distance, the more apparitions joined to form that chain. She transmitted a thought - from her to one ghost, from it to another, until the last one connected her thoughts to the gungho agent.

[i]'Don't be so hasty, mister.'[/i]

Francis came to a slow stop, as he looked over his shoulder. Almost as if he was looking for the girl standing right over his shoulder. "... Andrea?"   He asked.

[i]'Did my accent give it away?'[/i] She tittered. 

Francis was a bit caught off guard by Andrea's ability - given that he had no idea she even was a Metahuman - but this wasn't the first time someone prodded around in his head. Given that his father and grandmother had a form of telepathy, he was used to it. 

[i]'A little, the rest was intuition.'[/i]

[i]'On a serious note...'[/i] continued Andrea, [i]'all of the evacuees so far have already been escorted where safe. Until more get out of the building, the least I can do is help you in the meantime. I can tell you what's around the corner.'[/i]

Francis pumped his shotgun, and thought, [i]'Guide me to where the mutants are.'[/i]

[i]'Give me a second... let's see... God... okay, okay, he's close. First hallway on your left going in. About... thirty and a half meters down that hall, maybe. He's in front of a shoe store... three teenagers are hiding there. They look trapped.'[/i]

[i]'On it.'[/i] Francis helded the shotgun with both hands as he broke off into a sprint straight towards the location. He took the first left, and began running. He quickly found that shoe store... and the hulking beast in front of it. He swallowed, as it looked like a woman hunched over like a gorilla with a grotesquely bloated body. Her mother was gaping, and a brown fluid flowed out of her mouth, and with all the blood, the beast was drenched in liquids. Francis was glad he had a strong stomach. The woman let out a loud yell as he moved over to Francis, and he put his arm up as he activated his psychic-shell. The mutant swung at Francis with all of her strength... but his shield was much stronger. He was only knocked a few steps back. He could've swore he heard Andrea wincing.

Ignoring that, he drew his shotgun and took a shot at the mutant's core, firing a dart which dug into her and she convulsed as electricity rocked her body. Francis took the opportunity to draw his containment foam sprayer. Before the beast of a woman could even react, she was coated in the foam. Francis dropped his shell, as he signed.

"... I'll get you the help you need," Francis' shotgun was tightly grasped with both hands. "I promise."

[i]'Evacuees are heading your way, Andrea.'[/i] Francis quickly opened up the door to the shoe store... before the thought occured to him that Andrea and Francis could just use comms to communicate with each other...

[i]'You didn't give me any comm, Francis.'[/i] Andrea interuppted.

"Right." Francis thought out loud as he went into the store. "Hello!" He loudly announced, "Is anyone here?"

Someone came from the dressing room, some kid with messy blonde hair, who looked like he seen a monster.

"It's alright, kid," Francis nudged his head over his shoulder. "Head to exit B with your friends."

"H-how did you know to find us?" The kid asked.

"Well," Francis said. "Let's just say I have an eye in the sky."

The kid didn't ask anymore questions as he went into the back and the whole group of his friends followed. Francis also tailed them to ensure that nothing happened to them.

[i]'Eyes sounds like a neat codename, what do you think?'[/i] He heard a voice echo in his head.

[i]'Might need to give it more thought.'[/i] Francis replied. [i]'Imagine what they'd think if they were saved by someone called Eyes?'[/i] He playfully said.

[i]'I imagine you watch too many horror flicks.'[/i] Andrea responded in kind. [i]'Anyways... there's a bunch more in the food court up the same way, but... God, there's... so much blood. I don't... think anyone made it out of there. I think the wing you're in is clear.'[/i]

Francis paused for a moment, and tightly clenched his fist. So many innocent lives lost... and there was no telling if they were all just adult males. Families come here... He sighed.

[i]'Understood.'[/i] Francis somberly thought to himself.

[i]'We'll be waiting outside to take the evacuees off your hands... I'm going to regret telling you this, but you'll have to get past that food court to make any more progress. Wait a minute... there are a bunch more civilians inside the mall, too. Some of them are fighting back. One of them...'[/i]

Outside of the mall, Andrea's mouth fell and she slapped her her hand against her forehead out of bewilderment. She continued, [i]'Are you kidding me...? Do you remember that one doofus fighting with the, I don't know, the pimp? After the rally? He's here, along with a few others.'[/i]

[i]'Oh, Jackson?'[/i] Francis thought. [i]'Where are they? He may be a Metahuman, but he isn't the brightest light.'[/i]

[i]'They're actually working their way towards the food court. They're all metas. They, um, might be taking care of themselves for now, but they're walking into an ambush... huh?'[/i] 

"Excuse me miss, are you okay?" Said a man's voice, abruptly pulling Andrea's senses back to herself as a hand suddenly touched her shoulder. She looked at the man who had pulled her back, clearly alarmed, and focused on his face. [i] Agent Parks. Concerned.[/i] He continued, "You looked like you were spacing out. Are you alright? It's tough on everybody the first time."

"Uh, I-I'm fine." Andrea stammered irritably. "Don't-- don't worry about me. I'm a psychic - uh, I think - I mean... I was just scrying for agent... uh, Francis. I'm fine."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt anything, I just..."

"You thought I was freaking out, I know. It's okay. He's bringing out three civilians in a minute, get ready."

"Ten-four. Alright, listen up everybody...!"

Andrea made a heavy sigh and sat down at the edge of one of the vans. She returned to her trance, and in little time, found Francis again. [i]'...Anyways, take a right up ahead for the exit. I'll warn the outside ground team for the evacs.'[/i]

[i]'Understood.'[/i] Francis replied before he decided what he should do next. A majority of RAVEN should be doing their best to solve this crisis, but Francis had the shaking feeling this was far from over. He ran alongside the teens, and knew that he'd have to breach the foodcourt. Maybe he can get Jackson and the others to evacuate. 

Meanwhile, on the outside, Andrea was shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She has been trying her damnedest to multi-task, between trying to keep on eye on what she could inside the mall, especially around the exits, and trying to keep an eye on Francis; but there was one mutant that was giving her some concern on the other end of the building. It was actively looking for a way out, it seemed. She muttered to herself, "...Something isn't right. One of the mutants are on the move... towards..."

She immediately returned her senses and jumped off her seat and cupped her hands around her mouth to tell at the agents forming the perimeter around the mall. [i]"...One's coming our way!"[/i]



[hr]

While RAVEN were doing their best efforts to hold back the beasts, there was only so much they could do.

And it showed when a hulking joy mutant burst through the front doors of the mall. 

Glass was sent in all directions as the bloated, tumor-ridden, man. His head was contorted to the side, as his body was full of large, gaping, bloody holes that one could see the man's organs through. His legs were enormous, while his arms were long and muscular. The beast immediately turned over a car as it began it's rampage through the parking lot. RAVEN agents, thanks to Andrea's warning, were able to dive out of the way of the flying debris in time, scrambling for their weapons. The ones clear of its rampage opened fire right away with their taser rounds, but were dismayed when the electrical prongs dug into its fatty tissue and had little effect on the mindless creature. Andrea reacted as soon as she could to the rolling car, and with a point of her finger, all of the nearby apparitions flocked around it and the car was suddenly suspended above a nearly doomed agent for a brief moment of time, and was gently let back onto the crowd. Andrea let go and found herself panting and holding onto her knees. Stopping two tons of weight plus however much momentum it had: [i]Not. Easy.[/i] She felt her chest getting tight as she tried to catch her breath. [i]'Stop. Slow, deep breath. Exhale slowly. Repeat.'[/i]

She had to stop this thing before it caused any more damage. She had to do something. But it looked so... [i]'Deep breaths. Do something. It's got to be me.'[/i] She swallowed the lump in her throat and stood back up and faced the abomination. She pointed her finger at the mutant this time, and suddenly, a gust of wind blew over the creature, slightly stunning it. It had no idea what force had punched it in the chest, and seemed to be looking for the offender. Andrea took a step forward with her hand still up. One, two more gusts, and the creature took a step back. Andrea looked around, and the apparitions flocked around the mutant this time. The faceless ghosts seemed to throw their arms at them, and every time they did, it was like multiple weak psychic forces blasting the creature in its center, creating small gusts of wind. The RAVEN agents previously helpless against the creature with the taser rounds they were supplied with, just watched curiously as the little blonde intern from DOVE took step after step closer to the mutant she was forcing back, which was roaring in anger. Every blast also seemed to have some blowback on Andrea, who grimaced every time the mutant was struck. 

"Are you kidding me?" One female RAVEN agent cried out. "We're getting one-upped by a skinny little girl!"

[i]'If it... he was strong enough to throw that car, he's strong enough to push back on my hold. I just have to weaken him...'[/i] She glanced to the side again at some of the surrounding apparitions. [i]'Scream.'[/i]

The sounds of what had to be dozens of shrill voices screaming like banshees tormented the mind of the mutant, causing him to howl a grisly scream of his own as he fell to his knees and clutched its own head. Andrea pointed at his head with her finger, then down to the ground. The mutant's body was pressed against the asphalt by an invisible telekinetic force, and was still crying out in pain from the ghastly screeches in his mind. Andrea was wincing at the sound, and was using her other hand to clutch the side of her own head from an aching pain of her own. Ordinarily, she could do a bunch of different things on her own with little ill effect... but she was putting so much into restraining this creature that her psyche was being strained. Once the RAVENs started deploying their containment foam units, she was finally able to let go and breathe easy. The mutant struggled in vain against the fast-hardening material. She could hear a couple of agents cheering her on in the midst of her sigh of relief. She hoped Francis was having better luck.

[hr]

While that was going on outside, Francis had to lead the trio of teens outside. He wished it was just him, because he was worried that one of the teens would freak out at any minute, and make this [i]much[/i] harder than it needed to be. Despite that, Francis was going to do his best to accomplish this task. With zero casualities. He crept up on the foodcourt with his shotgun in both hands, he briefly took his hand off it to signal the teens behind him to stop. He glanced around the corner, and saw several of the mutants lingering around. Far too many of them to even consider fighting head on, and from what he can tell, they're attracted to light, sound, and movement....

Francis' hand went to his ultility belt with lightning speed, and pulled the flashbang off.

Well, he's got a hell of a light and sound right here in his hand. Only thing was that he didn't know how long they'd stay distracted. Might as well give it a shot, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Francis turned to the teens.

"Okay," Francis started off, whispering. "I'm going to throw this, and you are to follow me no matter what, got it?"

They all collectively nodded. Good, they're already quiet. Francis focused on the task at hand, he held the flashbang tightly in hand, and pulled his arm back to throw it. He only hoped that they didn't retain enough intelligence to figure out where the flashbang came from... and he quickly pulled the pin, and threw it fast as he could! Because the last thing he needed was a flashbang exploding in his face.

The grenade flew across the room, and exploded mid-air! 

Well, it didn't go as far as Francis hoped it would, but he wasn't wasting time whining about it. "Go, go, go!" Francis said as he rushed the teenagers along. He was running in a crouched position, and encouraged them to do the same. Running all out would only get them killed... 

... One of the kids in the back tripped, and let out a loud yelp. Only for all the mutants to turn their attention to him.

"Son of a..." Francis said in a deep accent, as he waved for the kids to keep going as he went back for the other kid. He felt the Flash he was going so fast, he grabbed the kid and helped him to his feet. Then he pointed away, where he kid darted off to. He went back to his ultility belt, and pulled out a flare. Today his luck had been... pretty shit, and he hoped that it was up from here. For now... He turned the flare, and it flashed on with a vibrant red light....

... He hoped to put all that running he did in school to use.

"Hey!" Francis loudly shouted, "Here I am!" He ran down a different hallway, with at least five mutants behind him. He pressed his earpiece, midstride as he dropped the flare.

"Evacuees heading towards you..." Francis started off. "... And I'm going to need backup - [i]Lots[/i] of backup!"